I booked this plantation over Oak Alley and Laura Plantation because of its focus on slavery. As someone who studied African American literature, I'm familiar with slave narratives and stories so I was bracing myself for a very emotional experience based on the reviews. I actually left feeling underwhelmed and unfazed.

To start, our guide was very knowledgeable and respectable. She was eager to answer any questions our group asked, and did a great job explaining all the sites, exhibitions, and the process of harvesting sugar cane with respect to the slaves. The memorials they built to the side are very interesting and reading the quotes of slaves gave more insight into their day-to-day lives. It was also pretty surreal to walk inside the cabins, jail, kitchen, the house and be able to touch those walls.

There are two reasons I'm giving this tour four stars. The first reason is because of their lack of customer service. I made the mistake of booking a guided tour before reading that Ubers/Lyfts don't operate in that area. I sent an email a week before asking if they can assist me with coordinating transportation and never got a response. I called them when they were open and no one picked up and I never got a call back. This is unacceptable for a museum that's very isolated from the city. Thankfully, I coordinated a private ride with a previous Uber driver.

The second reason I'm giving it four stars is because of the organization's choice to clear out all the furniture from the main house to not perpetuate showcasing the wealth of the plantation owners. I understand they made that decision out of respect to the slaves, but I still would've liked to see how the house looked during its time, even if the furniture was borrowed from other plantations or museums. I believe history should be presented in its entirety, and walking through the empty house was very anti-climactic and actually detracted from the experience as it was the finale of the tour.

Overall, I was underwhelmed, but I respect the effort the organization is making to prioritize the slaves who lived there. I still recommend everyone do this tour because it’s very informative and explains the sobering, important, and dismal history of our nation and humanity in general. However, I think one would get a well-rounded experience if you paired a visit to Whitney with Laura and/or Oak Alley, despite being known to whitewash their exhibits.